Process for manufacturing a reference leak

Abstract

A method for making a reference leak includes the steps of: (a) preparing a substrate; (b) forming a patterned catalyst layer on the substrate, the patterned catalyst layer comprising one or more catalyst blocks; (c) forming one or more elongate nano-structures extending from the corresponding catalyst blocks by a chemical vapor deposition method; (d) forming a leak layer of one of a metallic material, a glass material, and a ceramic material on the substrate with the one or more elongate nano-structures partly or completely embedded therein; and (e) removing the one or more elongate nano-structures and the substrate to obtain a reference leak with one or more leak holes defined therein.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to detecting instruments for use in leak detection of a gas, particularly to a process for manufacturing a reference leak.[0003]2. Discussion of the Related Art[0004]A reference leak is an artificial instrument for use in leak detection of a specific gas. The reference leak has a constant leak rate for the specific gas under a given condition such as a specific temperature and a specific pressure at the gas intake side. The reference leak has been widely used in periodical leak detection and calibration of a helium mass spectrometer leak detector.[0005]Conventional reference leaks can generally be classified into the three types: platinum wire-glass leaks, squeezed metal tube leaks, and silica membrane helium leaks. A leak rate of the platinum wire-glass leak is generally in the range from 10−6˜10−8 torr·l / s. The platinum wire-glass leak is obtained by implanting a platinum wire into a glas...

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